Optomec of Albuquerque, NM, has received US Patent No. 8,455,051, "Apparatuses and methods for maskless mesoscale material deposition." Using the claimed method, features can be deposited directly on a surface, with the line widths of these features ranging from the micron range up to a fraction of a millimeter. According to the patent, deposition and subsequent processing may be carried out under ambient conditions, eliminating the need for a vacuum atmosphere. The process may also be performed in an inert gas environment.
The California Institute of Technology of Pasadena, Calif., has received US Patent No. 8,455,258, "Apparatus and methods for conducting assays and high throughput screening." A method of cell analysis is claimed. It includes providing a microfluidic device containing holding spaces in which cells may be retained; introducing a solution containing cells into the microfluidic device so that in a single cells are retained in the holding spaces; within each of those holding spaces, contacting the cell with an agent that causes the cell to lyse; and detecting the presence of a component of the lysed cell. According to the patent, the holding spaces used in the described device are created at the intersection of two flow channels.
Intelligent Bio-Systems of Waltham, Mass., has received US Patent No. 8,455,401, "Methods and devices for making arrays." The patent relates to methods and devices for amplifying nucleic acids in order to generate products on a surface without the use of emulsions. In a preferred embodiment, groups of this amplified product are generated on the surface, each positioned in different, predetermined locations so as to create an array.
Arborgen of Ridgeville, SC, has received US Patent No. 8,455,630, "Wood and cell wall gene microarray." The patent provides polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences isolated from Pinus radiata and Eucalyptus grandis that are involved in wood and cell wall biosynthesis. Methods for using the sequences, along with constructs and transgenic plants, are provided also. In one embodiment, the sequences are printed as oligonucleotides on a solid support. Using this array, together with buffers and reagents for nucleotide hybridization reactions, gene expression of the sequences can be profiled.